Aboard the Jolly Roger
by Zamelot
Summary: Stolen ships, hidden treasure, women, and another long explination. He may have been able to stand up to anything else, but when it came to her, he sank at her feet. a pirate tale sequel
1. Letters

Chapter One

A Pirate Tale part two

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"Convicts spend their entire lives trying to convince others that they're innocent. I'd expect you of all people, Misao, to know that!" the town mayor, a portly, grandfather-like man, paced up and down the hallway in front of Misao's prison cell. 

"That Shinomori is a dangerous fugitive. He is not to be trusted! Do you hear me, Misao! Misao? Misao, are you even listening to me? Are you awake?"

Misao sat in a tight ball against the corner of the far wall. Her black hair that had been once so filled with the velvet of the night lay in filthy, mattered waves over her shoulders coved in dirt and grime. She eventually lifted her gaze from the rotten, rancid, dirt floor, to the mayor standing before her outside the bars.

"You don't know the whole story. You only heard one part of it. There's a whole story behind it--"

"I don't need to know the whole story!" the mayor stressed rattling the cage. "The part that I heard was enough. You've been keeping in touch and helping Shinomori Aoshi!"

Misao charged toward the mayor and grasped the bars on the cell until her knuckles turned white, imagining they were the mayor's neck. "I was not helping him! How could I be helping him if I was all the way over here in France and he's somewhere on the other side of the world!"

"The day Shinomori was caught!" he shouted back at her. His round face was splotched with red. "He managed to escape, and when they went to take him back, he vanished; I get the feeling that you were somehow involved!"

Misao drew back instinctively. She sat back on the floor and drew her knees up. The mayor sighed and motioned to the guard with a large black hood covering his face. The guard resumed his place in front of the cell and the mayor prepared to leave.

"Oh, Misao," he turned back to her. "If you agree to help us capture Shinomori tonight by meeting him at the river as he suggested in his letter, we'll set you free."

She hissed. Like a furious cobra. He scrambled away quickly without another word.

"To think I actually voted for that coward," Misao took a seat against the bars behind where the guard was sitting. "At the time I thought he'd make a good, just mayor."

The guard probably wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her, but she didn't care. Did the hang man care when Marie Antoinette apologized for stepping on his foot? At least there was someone to talk at if not to.

"Maybe he is being a good mayor. By capturing the pirate everyone's after and all…and maybe I'm just being stubborn," she smiled softly. "I _am_ stubborn…"

"So I've been told," Misao jerked her head up to look curiously at the guard. He smiled down at her, his eyes twinkling. Realization slowly hit her in the face. "The letter was a ploy. The captain knew someone was most likely reading your mail from his own…experience… he sent me to get you and bring you to him. He's in dire need of your help, Miss. Are you willing to assist him once more?"

Misao gazed up at Shinomori's first mate, unshed tears filling her eyes. The thought of seeing Shinomori for the first time in six months filled her with unspeakable joy. She may as well commit the 'crime' she was being accused of so that she had a reason to be where she was. Misao reached her arms out from behind the bars and crushed Hannya as closely to her as she could. "Aye, sir!"

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wow this came out short. oh, well. the next chapters should be longer. The story's alive and continuing! If you see any LeBaus or Mayuras mention it, and I'll change it. It'll be my mistake. I'm sorry that I haven't been replying to my reviewers. I've been really busy, and when I reply I rant on about how much I love you for reviewing and how much of a wonderful person you are and how punk rock your review was. So, can you drop by a review? I'll try to reply this time! 


	2. Pirates!

_it's back! i had a huge writer's block with continuing this, but i guess johnny depp smiled at me. i hadn't really wanted any influence with potc, but i suppose that it was inevitable. the second movie is awesome. a little too long and the triangle is pointless, but the movie is great._

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The anxiety creptabout his throat and stretched to his loins. The mere thought of her wine dark hair or crystal blue eyes set off an impatience to see her again that he could barely control. He paced about the wooden floor of his room at the inn while awaitingHannya'sreturn with the girl. In order to make it into the inn without suspicion, he mattered his dark hair, let his usually groomed beard grow rugged and unruly, and had a large hood over his face. 

The door creaked open, and Aoshi staggered.Shikijo entered, slowly shutting the door silently behind him.

"Good God, I thought you were her," he said hurriedly.

Shikijogrinned. The idea of his usually stoic captain anticipating the arrival of a single female amused him beyond reason. He could hardly believe that this was the same captain he'd served since he ran away from home fifteen years ago. The same captain who avoided brothels whenever he could and never even thought about seducing a woman when he could do so so easily.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he responded. "Beshimi got news from Hannya. The girl's out of the jail and on her way here. Everyone after you is at the dock, awaiting you."

Aoshinodded as he stood by the window. There'd be no question about her returning to a normal life after what was occurring. He looked down the dirt path and began to tap his heel impatiently. He heardShikijo exit the room and shut the door behind him just before hearing the hurried footsteps of someone dashing desperately down the hall. Whoever was running toward his room managed to collide withShikijo and knock a table over, breaking something.

At that moment,Beshimi burst into the room.

"Captain! They're here!Hannya and Miss Misao have arrived!"

Aoshidove for the window, slamming his forehead against the frame in the process of sticking his head out. There, up ahead, strode a couple in long black cloaks. The shorter member tugged her hood back slightly, granting Aoshi a look at her confused, startled face, and a glace at her glowing trademark hair. He pulled himself back into the room, almost stumbling backwards.

"Lead them in!" he snapped impatiently at Beshimi.

Beshimisaluted, then rushed out into the hall—only to rush back in. Despite the short distance he 'sprinted' he was out of breath as he reentered the room.

"Lady Misao has arrived, captain," at that moment, from behind Beshimi, Hyottoko, Hannya, andShikijo (who was sporting a black eye) materialized. They slowly spread apart, like Moses had spread apart the sea, to reveal the long awaited lass.

She stepped into the room, her shoes clicking sharply underfoot, and pulled down her hood.Aoshi felt his breath catch. A week and a half in the town jail had taken the light from her hair and the healthy glow from her skin, but the excitement that sprang into her eyes made up for it. Containing the urge to dive at him, she took a step forward and held up a hand, a smile breaking through the filth that layered her face.

"Hi."

Misao jumped slightly at the loud, disappointed sighs released from the men standing behind her. She turned back toAoshi just in time to catch him attempting to cover the annoyed, get-the-hell-outta-here look he'd been donning.

"Long time no see," he replied quickly.

She waited until the door clicked shut behind her before she approached him, a smile still gracing her mattered features.

"Indeed, scallywag," she folded her arms across her chest. "Considering the fact that you were so reluctant to accept my help last time and then all of a sudden you request it… what have you been up to?"

Aoshimoved stiffly away and turned back to the window. "A lot, actually for only six months," he glanced back at her, stalling. She nodded her head, encouraging him to go on. He hesitated, fingering his beard. "I suppose…Hannya told you that I …needed your help?"

"Yes, except that he made you sound a bit more compassionate and willing by saying that you were 'in dire need' of my help,"

He scoffed at that and stepped away from the window, moving toward the bed. He sat across it, crossing his legs, and leaning against the wall. Misao followed suit, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

"Yes…well, it's a long story…. How about you take a bath and refresh—"

"Get to it," she interjected. "Don't bother telling me the story now. There're too many people after you,"

Aoshisat up and gave her a fixed look. "That's where you're mistaken. Every member of your town law enforcement is currently waiting my never to happen arrival," he smiled inwardly at the foolishness of the law enforcers thinking themselves so clever by reading his letter addressed to Misao. "We'll be gone by dawn. I have a Chinese Junk anchored at the beach you last saw me off at."

Miaso rose to her feet, the dark cloak slipping from her shoulders and tumbling down her back to pool at her feet.Aoshi ran his eyes down her petite form so quickly she didn't catch it. The plain periwinkle colored dress she wore was torn and worn almost making her as if she'd been in jail about two months; not a week and a half. Her unusually bright, thick hair was reduced to a dullcolor that hung in lank strings about her face while her eyes had less than half the original light she'd once adorned.

"Alright," she met his softening gaze. "Let me go take a bath—but," she approached him with her finger poking his chest, "first explain to me what you're getting me into."

He twitched. Miaso watched as he slid a hand into his breast pocket on the inside of his jacket and seemed to check if something was there. "My ship was stolen…and half—most—of my crew, lost," he answered tentatively.

"Again!" she shouted.

He jumped in surprise at her outburst. He hated the way he got twitchy around her. He raked a hand through his hair as he contemplated his answer.

"No. The crown has nothing to do with this. Actually. Yes, the crown does have a part," he paused, trying to sort his thoughts within his head. "You do know that the crown is after me, correct?" she nodded, with a roll of her eyes. "Well, I was in India, and there was a drug lord who managed to get hold of my ship, and thus putting illegal trade onto my list of sins as well."

"In other words, you're being framed,"

Aoshi paused again. He met her eyes and took a step toward her, his hand reaching for his breast pocket again. "You've heard of l'Ollonais, yes?"

Misao looked at him curiously. "The French pirate who disappeared without a trace?"

"Aye," he pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to her. "…I know where l'Ollonais' treasure is. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who wants it."

Misao handled the key carefully. It looked to be made of coral. "Ah, so he's bribing you,"

"Yes and no," he took the key back and returned it to the safety of his pocket. "I want the treasure—and my ship back. He, on the other hand, also wants the treasure. So, he's offering me my ship back in exchange for the treasure. You're right. He is basically bribing me."

Misao blanched. She got thrown in jail and broken out—for this? A rash, incompetent man who called himself a pirate who, in some way, needed the help of a woman? She still didn't see her part in this miserable adventure. "You've got to be the greediest, most selfish dastard in the world!"

He smirked and gave her a friendly cuff on the cheek. "Pirate," he added, moving back toward the window.

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alright. end chapter two. i intend to make this story as long as possible withoutmaking it boring. R&R thank you to all my reviewers! 


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